When I worked in publishing, my colleagues and I had a weird ritual when new books arrived from the printer. We would all gather around the big shipping boxes and cut them open, then we’d each reach in for a copy, open it up, and put our noses to the pages.

“Ahhh, the smell of fresh books,” someone would always say, breathing in the inky scent.

When you’re a true-blue “book person,” you love everything about books: The way they smell. The way the pages feel. The weight they add to your bag. The way they look on your shelf. (Do I sound like a book stalker? Guilty.)

It’s only natural, then, that bibliophiles love reading books aboutbooks. Whether it’s cheering on the rebel readers in Fahrenheit 451or following the true story of an infamous book thief in The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, novels and nonfiction that give books a starring role have an undeniable appeal for book lovers.

In How Reading Changed My Life Anna Quindlen writes, “There was waking, and there was sleeping. And then there were books.” If you’re nodding your head in agreement, this list of one hundred bookish books is for you: